Slime-thickener for dewatering mine-tailings.



E. DARROW. SLIME THICKENER FOR DEWATERING MINE TAILINGS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8. 1915.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

IN VEN TOR. n lffiarrow ORN WITNESSES:

.cumsu PLANOGRAHH C0.. WASHINGTON, l). c.

WILTON E. DAR-ROW, OF SUTTER CREEK,

CALIFORNIA SLIllvIE-THICKENER FOR DEWA'IEEING MINE-TAILINGS.

Application filed February 8, 1915.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, VILTON E. DARROW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sutter Creek, in the county of Amador and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slime Thickeners for Dewatering Mino-Tailings; and I do declare the following to be a clear, full, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in paraphernalia for the handling of watered mine tailings discharged from stamp mills or similar places, the object of the invention being to dewater the slime and crushed ores and run the clearer water off leaving the solid portion to be handled for the purpose of saving the valuables therein or merely to discharge them upon the dump in a dry and compact manner. In this way they do not join with the water of streams in such a manner as to pollute the streams as is very often the case when the watered crushed ore and slime is allowed to mingle with such streams.

A further object of the invention is to pro duce a simple and ineXpensive device, and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposes for which it is designed.

These objects, I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of the parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

On the drawings, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a series of my improved devices showing one complete and one with the settlers and other structure removed, and the other with the settlers shown but the adjustment structure removed, as will appear. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on a line XX of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on a line YY of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary portion of the device partly in section and showing the adjustment means for control ling the flow of the water from the device.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915. Serial No. 6,694.

numeral 1 designates a receptacle used for the device, which may be of any desired size or shape and which can have any desired outlet valve for the solid material, one form of such valve being shown in Fig. 2, as by the numeral 2, which is the, gravity controlled outlet valve, similar to that shown in my Patent No. 1,106,630, dated August 11th, 1914. Inasmuch as any desired form of discharge can be used, I make no special claim to the same and hence enter into no detailed description of the same in this ap plication.

Depending centrally into the member 1 is an inlet pipe 3v leading from a suitable reservoir 4 and into which the watered mine tailings are discharged-as they. come from the mine. Surrounding the member 1 is a receptacle 5 having side wallsspaced from the side walls of the member 1. Said receptacle 5 is provided with one or more discharge outlets 5 around its upper edge.

Disposed in the side walls of the member 1 are a plurality of outlet holes or ports 6, the upper holes 6 being above the top level of the receptacle 5. These holes 6 are arrangedin series, those holes of each series being disposed vertically, one above the other, and slidable over each series is a gate 7, such gate being provided with a plurality of square holes 8, one hole 8 for each hole6. On the top of the receptacle 1 are brackets 9, one for each gate 7 and through each bracket is an adjustment bolt 10 which projects through a vertical slot 11 in the gate 7, whereby the gate 7 may be adjusted vertically to increase or diminish the sizeof theoutlets 6. The watered mine tailings are passed into the member 4 and thence through the pipe 3 into the receptacle 1. The sizes of the openings 6 are adjusted so that in proportion to the pressure and flow from the reservoir 4, through the pipe 3 and into the receptacle 1, the outward flow through the holes 6 will be such that the water level in the receptacle 1 will be maintained above the highest of the holes 6 and hence above the top level of the receptacle 5 so that there will be a continuous flow through the holes 6 into the receptacle 5 and out of the discharge outlets 5 lVithin the receptacle 1, I provide a plurality of V-shaped or other similar defiectors 12 which are arranged in the sloping manner shown and adjacent each of the holes 6 so that one or more of said holes 6 will be underneath the upper edge of each of the deflectors 12. When the watered mine tailings enter the receptacle 1 near the bottom thereof, as shown, and the water flows upwardly and then out through the openings 6, these deflectors l2 continuously settle the solid portion of the tailings tothe bottom of the receptacle leaving the clear water free to run out of the holes 6. The solid mass which settles in the member 2 is then released through the medium of the valve 2 or by any other suitable structure.

From the foregoing description it can readily be seen that the natural tendency of the solid portion of the watered tailings will be to drop downwardly with gravity and this tendency will be readily aided by the defiectors 12 as the material flows outwardly against the same. Of course, the holes 6 will only extend part way toward the bottom of the receptacle 1 so that the flow therethrough will be almost entirely clear water.

It will further be seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfils the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do' not form a departure from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a receptacle having a central inlet pipe extending to a point near the bottom thereof, a plurality of openings in the side of said receptacle, another receptacle disposed around said first named receptacle and having its side walls spaced from the side walls of said first named receptacle, said openings communicating with said second named receptacle, and a plurality of defiec- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the tors arranged in said first named receptacle, as described.

2. A device of the character described comprising a receptacle having a central inlet pipe extending to a point near the bottom thereof, a plurality of openings in the side of said receptacle, another receptacle disposed around said first named receptacle and having its side alls spaced from the side walls of said first named receptacle, said openings communicating with said second named receptacle, and a plurality of deflectors arranged in said first named receptacle, the top level of said first named receptacle being higher than that of said second named receptacle, as described.

3. A device of the character described comprising a receptacle, an inlet pipe projecting into said receptacle to a point near the lower end thereof, another receptacle disposed around said first named receptacle and having its side walls spaced from the side walls of said first named receptacle, a plurality of openings in the side of said first named receptacle, means for adjusting the size of said openings, and a plurality of deflectors in said first named receptacle, as described.

4;. A device of the character described comprising a receptacle, means for admitting a flow of watered mine tailings into said receptacle, said receptacle being provided with a plurality of openings in its side to allow of the outlet of said flow, and means for adjusting the size of said openings to regulate the outward flow in proportion to the inlet flow so as to hold said watered mine tailings at a predetermined level within said first named receptacle, as described.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILTON E. DARROWV.

Witnesses VERADINE WARNER, FLOYD M. BLANcHARD.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

